Shunosaurus
Shunosaurus, meaning "Shu Lizard", is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from Middle Jurassic (Bathonian–Callovian) beds in Sichuan Province in China, 170 million years ago. The name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for the Sichuan province. Discovery and species The first fossil of Shunosaurus was discovered in 1977 by a group of students, practising paleontological excavation at a road bank. The type species, Shunosaurus lii, was described and named by Dong Zhiming, Zhou Shiwu and Zhang Yihong in 1983. The generic name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for Sichuan. The specific name honours hydrologist Li Bing, the governor of Sichuan in the third century BC.Dong, Z., Zhou, S. & Zhang, Y. 1983. from the Jurassic of Sichuan. Palaeontologica Sinica, New Series C 162(23): 1-136 The holotype, IVPP V.9065, was collected from the Lower Xiashaximiao Formation near Dashanpu, Zigong. It consists of a partial skeleton. Later about twenty more major specimens were discovered, including several complete or near-complete skeletons, skulls and juveniles , making Shunosaurus one of the best anatomically known sauropods, with 94% of all skeletal elements identified. Shunosaurus skeletons are on display at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum in Zigong, Sichuan Province, and the Beijing Museum of Natural History. A second species, S. ziliujingensis, a name mentioned in the Zigong museum guide to indicate a smaller and older form, has never been formally described, and thus remains a nomen nudum. Description Shunosaurus was first estimated to be long; later and more complete finds indicated a somewhat smaller size. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated the length at , the weight at .Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 173 Shunosaurus was very short-necked for a sauropod, being only "surpassed" in this respect by Brachytrachelopan.Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 175 The skulls found are mostly compressed or disarticulated and the interpretation of the head form has varied from broad, short and deepPaul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 174 to extremely narrow and pointed.Zheng , Zhong (1996). Cranial Anatomy of ''Shunosaurus and Camarasaurus (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) and the phylogeny of the Sauropoda''. Dissertation Texas Tech University. pp. 208 The upper and lower jaws were strongly curved upwards, allowing them to function as a pair of garden shears. The teeth were fairly robust but elongated with a crown length of up to . They show a unique combination of a cylindrical body ending in a spatulate tip. In 1989 it was disclosed that the tail ended in a club,Dong Z., Peng G., Huang D. 1989. discovery of the bony tail club of sauropods. Vertebrata Palasiatica 27: 219–224 equipped on its top with two successive spikes formed by -long cone-shaped osteoderms probably used to fend off enemies. Classification ]] Shunosaurus was originally classified as a member of the Cetiosaurinae; in 1992 Dong assigned it to Shunosaurinae within the Cetiosauridae. Cladistic analyses have rendered conflicting results. In 1995 Paul Upchurch published a study in which Shunosaurus belonged to the Euhelopodidae together with other Jurassic Chinese sauropods.P. Upchurch. 1995. "The evolutionary history of sauropod dinosaurs". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 349: 365-390 However, an analysis by Jeffrey Wilson in 2002 indicated it had a very basal position within the Eusauropoda.J. A. Wilson. 2002. "Sauropod dinosaur phylogeny: critique and cladistic analysis". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136: 217-276 Shunosaurus is perhaps related to Rhoetosaurus from Queensland in Australia. The cladogram below shows a possible phylogenetic position:J.A. Wilson, 2002, "Sauropod dinosaur phylogeny: critique and cladistic analysis", Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136: 217-276 |labe5=unnamed |5= }} }} }} }} }} Paleobiology Its neck length indicates that Shunosaurus was a low browser. The form of its jaws is well-adapted to processing large amounts of coarse plant material.Chatterjee, S. & Zheng, Z. 2002. "Cranial anatomy of Shunosaurus, a basal sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136(1): 145–169 Shunosaurus accounts for 90% of the fossils found in the Dashanpu fauna, showing it was a dominant member of its habitat. It shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with other sauropods, Datousaurus, Omeisaurus and Protognathosaurus, the possible ornithopod Xiaosaurus, and the early stegosaur Huayangosaurus, as well as the carnivorous theropod Gasosaurus. References * Category:Sauropods